Useful General Swansea Irish Cork Ferry Information

You will find lots of Swansea Irish Cork Ferry information and resources here at ferryireland. Ferries come in all shapes and sizes, from small cable ferries all the way up to almost cruise boat size proportions. Ferry crossings from the mainland UK to Europe are as popular as ever due to the increasing demand for European travel.

The Channel Tunnel has only served to make the ferry boat operators more competitive and real fare bargains are now regularly offered.

Swansea Cork Ferries sails between Swansea in South Wales, ideally situated on the M4 motorway, and Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork in Ireland, the Gateway to Kerry, Limerick and Clare.

Travelling the Swansea Cork Ferries route means saving up to 400 miles of tiring driving on a round trip, leaving you within easy reach of all holiday destinations.

Thanks to the convenient sailing times, visitors to Ireland can look forward to arriving first thing in the morning, refreshed after a full nights sleep and wide awake to the beauties and fun a holiday in Ireland offers.

There are a wide range of facilities on board including bars, restaurants, cinema and kiddies playroom.

Most UK sailings depart from Swansea at 9.00pm and arrive in Ringaskiddy, Cork at 7.00am. This allows you sample the restaurants, bars and duty free shop on the Superferry before settling down to a good nights sleep. Rise in time for a hearty breakfast before starting a full days holiday, rested and refreshed. All cabins are ensuite so your comfort is guaranteed.

When does a ferry become a cruise ship? There is often a fine line between the two and is usually a matter of where the ship docks and for how long. Put another way, the purpose of journey plays more of a part than the ship itself. The Baltic Sea has many such ships that sail between Sweden and Finland.

Superfast Ferries an Attica Group company was formed in 1995 and is based in Athens, Greece, together with Blue Star Ferries. Superfast Ferries operates lines in the: Adriatic Sea: Ancona and Bari, Italy - Igoumenitsa and Patras, Greece; Baltic Sea: Rostock, Germany - Hanko, Finland; North Sea: Zeebrugge, Flanders - Rosyth, Scotland.

DFDS is a Danish shipping company that was formed in 1866 as a merger of various minor shipping companies. The company was led by the industrialist Carl Frederik Tietgen. DFDS is the largest and oldest Danish shipping company. Passenger ferry activities are operated by DFDS Seaways.

Cable ferries operate over short distances across a number of the UK's inland waterways. Some cable ferries actually use the power of the rivers current to move the ferry forward. Most cable ferries though are operator controlled. Originally rope or steel chains were used to connect the ferries from ones side of the riverbank to the other. These have now been replaced by much stronger and more durable steel wire.

SeaFrance was launched on 1 January 1996 following the end of an agreement between Sealink and SNAT. That same year, SeaFrance Ltd. was established and was responsible for the sales and marketing of the new service in the UK as well as port operations in Dover. SeaFrance has since extended its sales operations throughout Europe with representatives in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy.

Irish Ferry operator Irish Continental Group plc known locally as Irish Ferries operates on the following routes. Dublin to Holyhead and from Rosslare to Roscoff, Cherbourg, and Pembroke. Irish Ferries was formed in 1972 and it's first operations were between Rosslare and Le Havre. In 1992, Irish Ferries took over B & I Line which operated ferry services between Dublin and Holyhead. The company's flagship ferry "Ulysses", is the world's largest car ferry.

Cities that are surrounded by waterways such as Venice use ferries extensively as part of their public transport system. In such cases ferries are employed to do the work of bridges and tunnels as their relative capital cost is much lower. These foot passenger only ferries are sometimes called waterbuses or even water taxis.

Hydrofoils have a high cruising speed and have largely taken over on some routes across the English Channel and replaced the aging hovercraft fleet.

Sea ferries dock at specialised facilities designed to position the boat for loading and unloading. These areas are called the ferry slip. If the ferry is carrying vehicles or railroad cars an adjustable ramp called an apron may form part of the ship and is used for loading and unloading.

A boat or a ship carrying passengers and sometimes their vehicles, on scheduled services is often reffered to as a ferry. Certain ferries are even able to transport railroad cars and other large cargo depending on their size.

Stena Line was founded by Sten Allan Olsson when he acquired Skagenlinjen in 1962 and is one of the world's largest ferry operators. Stena Line has ferry services around the UK and Scandinavia. In 1990 Stena Line doubled it's size with the acquisition of Sealink British Ferries. After a number of name changes the company is now known locally as Stena Line (UK) and operate all of Stena’s ferry services between the UK and Northern Ireland.